2009 WSBK thread

[chee16]

well as the start of the season comes closer and closer (sweeeeet!) i thought i would start a thread on World Superbike racing. i think this will be one of the best season to date, it might even out do MotoGP this year.

Schedule

1	March 1	Phillip Island	Australia
2	March 14	Losail	Qatar
3	April 5	Valencia	Spain
4	April 26	Assen	Netherlands
5	May 10	Monza	Italy
6	May 24	Kyalami	South Africa
7	May 31	Salt Lake City	Utah
8	June 21	Misano	San Marino - Italy
9	June 28	Donington Park	England/Europe SBK
10	July 26	Brno	Czech Republic
11	August 2	Brands Hatch	Great Britain
12	September 6	Nurburgring	Germany
13	September 27	Imola	Italy
14	October 4	Magny-Cours	France
15	October 25	Portimão	Portugal

[chee16]

here is the full line (which is huge.... sweet!)

FIM Superbike World Championship
Nr Rider Nat. Machine Team
41 Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati 1098R Ducati Xerox Team
84 Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati 1098R Ducati Xerox Team
19 Ben Spies USA Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha World Superbike
66 Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha World Superbike
7 Carlos Checa ESP Honda CBR1000RR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda
65 Jonathan Rea GBR Honda CBR1000RR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda
53 Alessandro Polita ITA Ducati 1098R Sterilgarda
67 Shane Byrne GBR Ducati 1098R Sterilgarda
71 Yukio Kagayama JPN Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 Suzuki Alstare
76 Max Neukirchner GER Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 Suzuki Alstare
23 Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki ZX 10R Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team
100 Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki ZX 10R Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team
24 Brendan Roberts AUS Ducati 1098R Guandalini Racing
96 Jakub Smrz CZE Ducati 1098R Guandalini Racing
15 Matteo Baiocco ITA Kawasaki ZX 10R PSG-1 Corse
86 Ayrton Badovini ITA Kawasaki ZX 10R PSG-1 Corse
55 Régis Laconi FRA Ducati 1098R DFX Corse
9 Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Honda CBR1000RR Ten Kate Honda Racing
33 Tommy Hill GBR Honda CBR1000RR HANNspree Honda Althea
94 David Checa ESP Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha France GMT 94 IPONE
25 David Salom ESP Kawasaki ZX 10R Team Pedercini
99 Luca Scassa ITA Kawasaki ZX 10R Team Pedercini
36 Gregorio Lavilla ESP Honda CBR1000RR Pro Ride World Superbike
3 Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia RSV4 Aprilia Racing
56 Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia RSV4 Aprilia Racing
11 Troy Corser AUS BMW S1000 RR BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing
111 Ruben Xaus ESP BMW S1000 RR BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing
31 Karl Muggeridge AUS Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 Celani Race
77 Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Honda CBR1000RR Squadra Corse Italia
44 Roberto Rolfo ITA Honda CBR1000RR Stiggy Motorsport AB
91 Leon Haslam GBR Honda CBR1000RR Stiggy Motorsport AB
88 Roland Resch AUT Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 TKR Suzuki Switzerland

**the ones in blue are the ones i think will be consistently at the front.

[chee16]

i have a bit of a bias here as i would really like to see Ben Spies do well, plus he is already up to speed in all the testing. i have watched Spies throughout his AMA career and he has really matured and progressed into a great rider.

i have also been a Troy Corser fan for a long time, he is one of the smoothest riders out there. i would love to see him get a victory on the new BMW (even though i am not really a bike BMW motorcycle fan).

i think Biaggi may have a few more flashes of brilliance as he is a great rider when things are going his way, but that Aprillia is going to give him trouble. he isn't a great developement rider, and the Aprillia has already had some motor problems.

Haga will be fast again and he is always fun to watch. if he can keep consistentency as far as crashing goes he will be a challenger for the championship for sure.

there are lots of very strong riders this year and i don't really see a dominant one in there (like Troy Bayliss can be) so the racing should be great.

[chee16]

Portimao Portugal Test times:

1 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'43.294
2 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'43.484
3 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'43.487
4 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'43.546
5 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'43.657
6 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'43.674
7 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'43.767
8 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'43.951
9 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'44.115
10 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'44.170
11 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'44.261
12 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'44.425
13 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'44.546
14 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'44.610
15 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'44.704
16 53 Polita A. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'45.108
17 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1'45.179
18 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1'45.199
19 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1'45.278
20 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'45.393
21 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'45.446
22 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'45.672
23 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'45.679
24 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'45.820
25 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'46.128
26 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'46.916
27 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'46.971

[chee16]

Phillip Island Test (Feb 17th and 18th), first group included: Aprilia, DFX Ducati, Stiggy Honda and Kawasaki

1. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia RSV-4 1min 33.1secs
2. Regis Laconi FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098RS 1min 33.1secs
3. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia RSV-4 1min 33.7secs
4. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Honda CBR1000RR 1min 34.1secs
5. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX10-R 1min 34.9secs
6. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX10-R 1min 35.1secs

The second group (Feb 21st and 22nd) will be the factory squads for Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki and BMW. Can't wait!

[chee16]

2nd group times:

1. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098RS 1min 32.19secs
2. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098RS 1min 32.30secs
3. Ben Spies USA Yamaha YZF-R1 1mmin 32.36secs
4. Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 1min 32.59secs
5. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 1min 32.78secs
6. Troy Corser AUS BMW S1000RR 1min 32.93secs
7. Jonathan Rea GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 32.96secs
8. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha YZF-R1 1min 33.10secs
9. Carlos Checa ESP Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 33.3secs
10. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW S1000RR 1min 33.53secs
11. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 34.0secs

**NOTE** there seems to be some confusion around Jonathan Rea's actual times, he says that he was told he did a 1min 31.8sec and i haven't figured out who is right yet.

[chee16]

Go Spies go!! 3rd (or 4th i still don't know) is pretty good for having never ridin the track before. i can't wait for the first race!

[chee16]

Phillip Island is this weekend and they are already on the track!!!
Phillip Island WSB: Spies sets pace in opening free practice - Motorcycle Sport

Spies is doing well already!

i can't wait!
4pm on speedtv sunday!

[chee16]

First Qualifying session top ten:
1 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'32.312
2 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'32.569
3 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.623
4 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'32.673
5 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'32.704
6 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1'32.928
7 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.932
8 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'32.939
9 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'32.971
10 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.991

its still early but the times are getting faster and faster!

[chee16]

First race: poor Spies gets pushed off the track by Biaggi by accident and had too much to catch up after that, Haga and Neukirchner go crazy at the front, wow, great racing.
1. Noriyuki Haga
2. Max Neukirchner
3. Yukio Kagayama

Second race: Spies is out for revenge and passes Biaggi on the outside in turn one, wow and he and Haga battle it out after that with rookie Leon Haslam battling to a third. Spies seemed to be the only one with tires left by the third last lap though. Second race and he wins it.
1. Ben Spies
2. Noriyuki Haga
3. Leon Haslam

if you don't watch world superbike, this is the season to start. amazing racing and who knows who will be upfront. check it out!